Changes

My blog has been silent for far too long. There just has not been much going on these days (besides lots of Bar studying!), so I've put off posting.

In an attempt to rejuvenate my blog, update it a little, and hopefully improve it, I'm moving to Wordpress! I'm keeping basically the same title, just updating the "Pursuit of a Law Degree" part, since I now have a law degree. :) After a week of figuring things out and making changes, it's finally ready!

So come join me on Wordpress! Click here to access: Life, Liberty, and a Law Degree. Be watching for some new posts in the next couple of days!

Resurfacing

Ahhh, the bliss of not having anything to do. It's been a very long time since I've had this much time off (read: two years), and it has been good for my soul. I hope to write a "law school recap"-type post, or something like that, soon, but in the meantime, I thought you might like to know what I've been up to for the last two weeks.

So, you may ask, what does a recent law school graduate do with the three weeks in between graduation and the start of Bar exam prep?

First thing first: you get a kitty. :) I have been mulling over this idea for several months. You see, I have two months of 6 to 8 hours of studying a day coming up, and I thought it might be nice to have a little company - of the kind that can sit on my lap. :)

Meet Leona:

She spent most of the first three days under the goodwill blanket we got her - she's a little introvert who just needs quiet. :)

She was pretty timid at first - every little sound made her jump, and she was terrified of the big open space in our living room. But after being here for almost two weeks, she's settling in quite well, and letting us know when she needs attention (aka, at 5:45am this morning when she was hungry).

And in case the pictures weren't enough, here's a video:

I've also been doing a good bit of reading. I finally finished my 700-page Alexander Hamilton biography (the one non-president in my presidential biography collection) this week, and moved on to something lighter: "Supreme Courtship" by Christopher Buckley. I've forgotten how wonderful it is to devour a novel in less than three days. :) It was entertaining, though certainly not the best book I've ever read. But I got in on the dollar rack at a used bookstore, and the title was too tempting to pass up.

What has taken up the majority of my time over the past three weeks is cleaning/organizing. With only 1200 square feet, you'd think it wouldn't take that long. But there are lots of TV/kitty breaks to be taken. :) Yesterday, AG and I moved all of our furniture into the other room so we could have a little more space, and I think that's the last big-scale project for a while. We got a second workout in moving all that heavy stuff...

Well, that's about all for now. I'm off to do some more cleaning and tidying up before Jocelyn's graduation festivities commence this evening.

Close Calls

It's been quite the week, huh? In processing and thinking about all the terrible things that have happened this week, I realized just how many times I have encountered death over the past month. None of them have involved me personally being in harm's way. But each of them has struck close to home and reminded me how short life is. Let me explain...

Four weeks ago, I ran the half marathon at Baylor's annual Bearathon event. As I got close to the finish line, I noticed someone laying on the ground, surrounded by people. A race volunteer was directing people to run on the right side of the course to avoid him. I finished the race and wondered what was going on, but didn't want to be rude or get in the way by trying to look.

I found out later that afternoon that the man died at the hospital. It was one of those rare occasions where someone drops dead at the end of a race for no apparent reason. His name was Daniel Jones. He was a 23-year-old senior at Baylor, and the preliminary autopsy gave no explanation about why he died. It was a surreal feeling, knowing that I had run right past him, and he had just completed the same race as I had.

The following weekend, I was at my parents' church for Easter. Toward the end of the service, a man suddenly passed out. Apparently he had been having trouble with high blood pressure, and it had been a stressful week. Thankfully, there was a nurse in the building and it wasn't actually a heart attack. However, for a few minutes, that's what everyone thought it was. Hearing his wife and kid sobbing in the back of the sanctuary was terrifying. I couldn't move. Even though I didn't know the guy, I felt like sobbing also.

Being in such close proximity to almost two deaths within the space of a week shook me. It was a very real reminder that I am not guaranteed tomorrow, or even the next hour. However, after mulling over that for several days, I honestly forgot about them and continued on with life.

And then this week, I was confronted yet again with my mortality.

Although I was not close in proximity to the bombings in Boston, it hit close to home because I am a runner. I have run many road races over the past three years, and am constantly reading about the honor of "qualifying for Boston." I had been watching the race live Monday morning, cheering for two of my favorite distance runners, Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. It could have just as easily been me at that finish line.

On Wednesday came the explosion in West, where I was once again semi-close in proximity. I found myself once again reminded of how fragile life is. Here I am, worrying about whether or not I will have a job in four months when I move to Colorado. And yet, there is no guarantee that I will even be alive then. What if I am wasting my time right now worrying about a job, when I should be spending that time as if it's my last day on earth? If I knew this was my last day, what would I be doing right now?

So, my prayer as I continue processing these events is that God will use these experiences to remind me of what is truly important. That I will leave each day in the moment, not worrying about tomorrow, doing things that actually matter.

Rather than being frightened by recent events, let's remember that ultimately, God is control of how many more breaths we take. And in the meantime, our responsibility is to live life to the fullest, and show Christ's love to as many people as we can.